Like a mob boss during a ‘bust out’: the rich asshole biographer warns what he is doing to America is far worse than you think
David Cay Johnston (Photo: Screen capture)
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President some rich asshole is harming the United States in a way that is far worse than Americans think, according to his former biographer David Cay Johnston.
During a discussion on Dean Obeidallah’s SiriusXM radio show Monday, Johnston attacked what is expected to be heard by the president during the State of the Union Tuesday evening. He specifically cited the rich asshole’s obsession with so-called “chain migration” that Johnston refered to as “family unification” which would fall under what the GOP once called “family values.”
“This is a racist policy. some rich asshole is a racist,” Johnston said. “This idea that the rich asshole has laid out of what he calls chain migration’ — which comes right out of the racist literature that is read by people like Stephen Miller in the White House–is nonsense. It doesn’t mean like Donald said the other day that you can bring in ’32 people.'”
Citing social science literature, he noted that the reason the rich asshole’s approval rating has been stuck in the mid 30s is due to one-third of Americans who hate civil rights.
“They don’t want to sit next to an Asian passenger, they don’t want a Latino in the cockpit and God forbid they don’t want to have a black woman boss they have to report to,” he said. “And some rich asshole is a hero to these people because he is willing to say, ‘I want a white America.'”
He then called out the rich asshole and his family for using the office of the president to personally profit off of the position.
“some rich asshole is like a locust,” Johnston said. “He descends upon a business, he gobbles up all the cash he can. That’s why his casinos went broke earlier on…He’s a cash extractor who operates like a mob boss during a ‘bust out.’”
He specifically cited the money the rich asshole’s been able to direct attention to his properties.
“When he left the inauguration where he took an oath to faithfully execute the law – he had the motorcade stop — you know where they stopped?” Johnston asked. “In front of the rich asshole International hotel. And to every foreign government and every business that wants a favor from the rich asshole administration the signal was clear: You will pay tribute first to some rich asshole and then we will talk about what you want.”
List to n the discussion below:
Part 1:
Part 2:
The GOP is waging a massive smear campaign against the FBI, and they're trying to silence criticism.
In yet another step toward banana republichood, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted Monday night to release chairman Devin Nunes’ conspiracy theory “memo” about an evil FBI plot against the rich asshole, while simultaneously suppressing a memo from the Democratic minority responding to Nunes’ talking points.
Republicans claim this was done in the interest of public transparency, but have no response when asked why they are only demanding transparency for their own reports.
When New York GOP Rep. Chris Collins appeared on CNN’s “New Day” Tuesday morning, he clearly could not defend his party’s actions in the face of Alisyn Camerota’s questioning.
“How can we trust [Nunes’] take on this?” Camerota asked. “He’s not an objective person. He’s not impartial.”
“It is the Intelligence Committee and they have connected certain dots that, perhaps, have been rumored,” said Collins. “And again, I just can’t go into the details.”
“But it’s the Republicans connecting the dots. It’s Devin Nunes connecting the dots.”
“Well, you wanna talk about what didn’t happen?” said Collins, desperately trying to change the direction of the debate. “The Democrats have refused to even read the memo … they haven’t read the memo.”
Camerota quickly corrected him. “The Democrats obviously know what’s in it, since they wrote a 10-page rebuttal, point by point, to it.”
As Collins quickly tried to backpedal, Camerota said, “Let’s talk about the committee. The House Intel Committee votes to release the Republican memo. They vote to not release the Democratic rebuttal to the Republican memo. How’s that fair?”
Collins spent nearly a minute trying to tap-dance around the question, saying he has “complete confidence” in Nunes and that he doesn’t know what the Democrats wrote. But after Camerota asked him again whether Democrats should be allowed to release their own memo, Collins finally conceded, “I would say they should.”
Even Collins, one of the biggest the rich asshole flacks in Congress, could not justify the committee’s decision to block any analysis or criticism of Nunes’ memo from being released. Republicans are plainly talking from both sides of their mouth on transparency, and it is indefensible.
Republican party chair says she won’t return money from billionaire accused sexual harasser Steve Wynn because of double standards — yet
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Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News on Tuesday that her organization will not be returning donations made by former finance chairman Steve Wynn unless he’s found guilty of criminal wrongdoing.
McDaniel said that while she found the multiple allegations of serial sexual harassment against Wynn troubling, she noted that he has not admitted to any misconduct.
“Steve has denied these allegations,” she said. “There is an investigation that is going to take place. He should be allowed due process. If he is found guilty of any wrongdoing, we will absolutely return 100 percent of the money.”
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal, McDaniel and the RNC were quick to demand that the Democratic National Committee return all donations it received from the disgraced Hollywood mogul, despite the fact that he has not yet been found guilty in a court of law.
McDaniel, however, told Fox that this situation was different because Weinstein had admitted to behaving inappropriately at times, while Wynn has admitted to nothing.
Watch the video below.
‘You’ve asked enough’: Barely human meatstick Paul Ryan snaps at reporter when he asks why GOP won’t wait to release memo
Paul Ryan speaks to Fox News (screen grab)
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House Speaker Paul Ryan snapped at CNN reporter Manu Raju on Tuesday when he asked why House Republicans won’t wait to release their memo about purported misconduct at the FBI until the House Democrats’ memo is ready to be released.
Raju started off by asking why it was considered acceptable for the GOP to release a memo that Democrats have called partisan and highly misleading while at the same time denying Democrats the right to release their own memo rebutting it.
Ryan explained that the Democratic memo hadn’t yet gone through proper vetting procedures to ensure that it didn’t compromise any intelligence gathering sources, but he said it would likely be released at a later date.
Raju then asked him why the GOP wouldn’t wait to release its own memo until after the Democratic memo was ready to go.
“You’ve asked enough,” Ryan told him before moving on to take another question.
Watch the video below.
Republicans are treating U.S. law enforcement and national security agencies as adversaries, while treating a hostile foreign nation as a friend.
Four-star general Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and NSA, issued a grave warning Monday night, telling CNN’s Don Lemon that partisan attacks on the FBI and other agencies are “chiseling away at institutions we are going to need again.”
Hayden made the remarks during a discussion about congressional Republicans’ failure to hold some rich asshole accountable for his attacks on democratic principles and institutions, from undermining special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe to calling on the Department of Justice to investigate his political opponents.
“Congress has allowed the president to take a lot of their authorities,” Hayden said, noting that Congress is supposed to serve as a check on the power of the executive branch — but that Republicans don’t seem very interested in fulfilling that fundamental responsibility.
As Hayden noted, the rich asshole’s GOP allies in Congress have sat back and watched as the rich asshole undermines the agencies and officials conducting the Russia investigation. In many instances, Republicans have even joined in on the rich asshole’s assault on U.S. institutions by slinging baseless accusations of wrongdoing at the FBI and undercutting the independence of the Department of Justice in an attempt to discredit their work.
But in their reckless partisanship, Republicans are inflicting lasting damage on the very institutions upon which our national security and democracy depend. Attacking our intelligence agencies — as the rich asshole and many GOP lawmakers have done for the past year — diminishes their capabilities and not only does a disservice to Americans, but actually serves the interests of countries like Russia.
And one day, Republicans are going to look back on their actions with regret, Hayden warned.
“We are chiseling away at institutions we are going to need again,” he said.
Hayden’s remarks couldn’t be more timely.
On Monday, Republicans stood by silently as the deputy director of the FBI was forced out of his job after a months-long smear campaign led by the rich asshole and his allies.
Later in the day, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to release an “intelligence memo” written by partisan hack Devin Nunes, but voted against letting the FBI brief Congress on the intelligence that supposedly informed the memo — a move that appears to be designed to provide cover for the rich asshole, at the expense of career law enforcement officers
Then, to cap off the evening, Republicans watched as the rich asshole defied U.S. law by refusing to enforce sanctions on Russia.
It’s hard to think of many things more shameful than what Republicans did on Monday — treat U.S. law enforcement and national security agencies as adversaries, while treating a hostile foreign nation as a friend.
Hitting a dangerous new low, the White House now dismisses the Russia scandal by claiming U.S. journalists were just as bad in 2016.
Sticking to the White House denial talking points and insisting there’s no evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday added a chilling new chapter to the GOP rhetoric when she compared American pundits covering a campaign to Russian operatives seeking to damage our democracy.
Sparring with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, who pressed Conway on why the White House is now refusing to impose sanctions on Russia as punishment for its aggressive 2016 interference — sanctions mandated by Congress — Conway argued that voters just don’t care about the issue.
Immigration and taxes are what matter she stressed.
“Sometimes you do what’s right,” Cuomo responded. “When somebody’s messing with your democracy, it deserves coverage.”
The United States intelligence community has been unflinching in its year-old conclusion that Russia clearly tried to meddle with the election. Over the last several months, an avalanche of evidence has emerged that the rich asshole campaign actively worked with Russians to make that happen.
“Let me tell you something. Everybody who said some rich asshole couldn’t win. Everybody who said the election was all wrapped up,” said Conway. “Every screaming headline, every wrong poll. Every anchor, every pundit who said this is over, it’s a joke, he can’t win, he can’t govern, [they] tried to interfere in the election.”
While Conway then quickly claimed she wasn’t trying to equate U.S. pundits expressing opinions about an election with Russian operatives trying to destroy our democracy, she clearly did exactly that.
And it’s a stunning and dangerous turn, even for this stridently anti-free press White House.
The idea that offering commentary about an unfolding election equates to interfering with an election is something you say when you don’t want any commentary about an unfolding election.
It’s what you say when you don’t want a free press critiquing those in positions of power.
White House says it can’t discuss the secretive memo that the president’s son keeps tweeting about
"We respect the process, the transparency and accountability."
During an interview with CNN’s New Day on Tuesday, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway dodged when asked about a memo being circulated by congressional Republicans, which they claim shows corruption at the highest levels of the Justice Department.
The memo itself, which allegedly details surveillance abuses and which Republicans have called “shocking” and “worse than Watergate,” has been highly criticized by the few Democrats who have seen it. Many have blasted it as cherry-picked, saying it omits important information in an attempt to paint the Justice Department — which is spearheading the investigation into possible collusion between the rich asshole campaign and Russian officials — in a nefarious light.
On Monday, the House Intelligence Committee voted to release the memo to the public, giving President the rich asshole five days to review it and decide whether to keep it secret. Tuesday morning, New Day host Chris Cuomo pressed Conway on the subject.
“Do you expect [the president] to take the full five days? Is there a chance we’ll hear something today, tomorrow?” he asked.
“That’s up to the president,” Conway responded. “We want it to be a deliberative process and we respect the process, the transparency and accountability. But [I] can’t really comment on the substance of the memo.”
Addressing any concern over Congress deciding to go above the intelligence community’s head in its decision to release the memo, Conway added, “I think there are concerns all the way around. That is one person’s opinion.”
Conway’s insistence that the White House remain silent on the memo’s contents, however, is in direct contrast with the majority of Republicans, who have continued to speak out about it at every given opportunity.
Conservatives like Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) have made appearances on Fox News’ Hannity in recent weeks, claiming that the memo proves Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is “a lie built on corruption” and “a palace coup.” Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Sean Duffy (R-WI), as well as the president’s own son, some rich asshole Jr., have pushed for the memo’s release on Twitter with the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo. In separate tweets, Meadows called the memo “absolutely shocking,” while Duffy claimed it was “very concerning.”
“It’s troubling. It is shocking,” Meadows added in an interview with Fox News in mid-January. “Part of me wishes that I didn’t read it because I don’t want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much.”
the rich asshole Jr. has been particularly aggressive with his tweets, suggesting that certain FBI agents should be fired and making unfounded claims about the timing of the memo and FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe‘s decision to take leave ahead of his official retirement. On Tuesday, the rich asshole Jr. retweeted a post by Daily Caller editor-in-chief Geoffrey Ingersoll, who suggested that the Obama administration was to blame for the Russia investigation because “Rogue Obama officials” had used a “phony” surveillance request detailed in the memo “to unmask the rich asshole officials” later on.
Strange timing. “Stepping down” the day after FBI brass sees the memo. I wonder what’s in there? #releasethememo twitter.com/seanmdav/statu…
According to a report by The New York Times on Sunday, the contents of the memo are largely uncontroversial, and focus on a request by the FBI to extend surveillance on former the rich asshole campaign adviser Carter Page. In November, Page testified before the House Intelligence Committee that he had contact with Russian officials during his time as a foreign policy adviser for the rich asshole campaign. Sources who spoke with the Times this week said the memo simply proved that Justice officials “saw reason to believe that [Page] was acting as a Russian agent” and decided to pursue that lead.
Republicans claim, however, that officials based their decision to request continued surveillance on research produced by former MI6 Officer Christopher Steele, who was retained by the research firm Fusion GPS to collect information for several clients, including the Democratic National Committee, and that Justice officials “failed to properly vet” the information before taking it before a judge.
Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson has repeatedly claimed that the decision to launch the Russia investigation was not based on information gleaned from Steele’s research.
The memo is only the latest instance of Republican efforts to undermine the Russia investigation, which the rich asshole has repeatedly called a witch hunt. In addition to the surveillance request, conservatives have also targeted a series of texts between two former Mueller staffers, FBI agents Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, which were sent in 2016 and were critical of the rich asshole. Strzok was dismissed from the probe last summer after the texts first came to light. Page had already completed her work on the investigation by then.
MSNBC’s Ruhle rips the rich asshole on not imposing Russia sanctions: ‘He’s never said anything bad about "If she wasn't my daughter, I would sleep with her" Ivanka, himself and "Buddy" Putin’
MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle. Image via screenshot.
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When discussing President Donald the rich asshole’s doubled-down refusal to implement sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle appeared to have a breakthrough regarding the president’s relationship to his Russian counterpart.
“The only people he’s never said anything bad about: Ivanka [the rich asshole], himself and Vladimir Putin,” Ruhle noted.
Earlier in the segment, the host bemoaned the president’s decision not to impose new sanctions despite his own CIA director admitting to British press yesterday that Russians are likely to attack this year’s midterms.
“[Director] Mike Pompeo himself yesterday said he believes Russians will continue to try to interfere in future elections,” Ruhle said. “If for optics alone, why wouldn’t the White House want to continue this while they’re in the hot seat? Wouldn’t that be a great argument to make? ‘There’s nothing to see, Russia has nothing over me, just slapped them with sanctions.'”
Watch below, via MSNBC:
Congressman votes to block release of Democrats’ intel memo, calls it ‘bipartisan transparency’
Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) only thinks the public should get to see Devin Nunes' opinions.
A day after voting to release a classified memo about intelligence gathering authored by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) — but against releasing a rebuttal from the committee’s ranking minority member, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) — one Congressman took to Fox News to pretend the majority had acted in a bipartisan and transparent fashion.
Brad Wenstrup, a third-term Ohio congressman and one of the 13 Republicans on the 23-member House Select Committee on Intelligence, told America’s Newsroom on Tuesday that he had voted to release the “top secret” memo by Nunes — despite warnings from some rich asshole’s own Department of Justice that doing so would be “extraordinarily reckless” — because “we thought it was time for the American people and at least our colleagues to start with to see what has been going on in the government.” The committee had earlier made the document available to members of the House, though Nunes had refused to share it with the Senate Intelligence Committee or federal law enforcement.
He then pretended that the Republican majority had acted magnanimously in voting not to make Schiff’s response public, but letting members of the GOP-lead House take a look at it.
“We want the American people to have eyes on [the Nunes memo] so they have some idea of what we’ve been dealing with,” Wenstrup told host Bill Hemmer. “And I will say this, Bill, we voted unanimously. Although the Democrats voted against us releasing this memo to our colleagues, we voted unanimously to let their memo go to our colleagues. We’re trying to be fair, professional, informative, transparent, and get to the truth.”
Watch:
In addition to leading the committee, Nunes was a member of the rich asshole’s presidential transition team. His memo reportedly relies on cherry-picked details from other classified documents and presents a misleading picture of intelligence gathering as it related to the 2016 rich asshole campaign. Schiff’s memo purportedly explains how — but thanks to Wenstrup and the committee’s majority, the transparency and fairness will be limited to just one side’s view.
Who is the ‘Washington Post’ kidding with this some rich asshole headline?
Pres. some rich asshole (screen capture)
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At this point you’ve got to be pretty naive to think there’s a chance that some rich asshole can redeem himself as president. Most progressives have lowered the bar of expectation for him to such a historic low that liberal pundits like Fareed Zakaria consider the rich asshole’s bombing of Syrian military bases, which resulted in 16 civilian deaths, a presidential high point.
Plenty of people wake up every morning simply grateful that the rich asshole hasn’t launched a nuclear war. But the center-left mainstream media takes a more rose-colored view. Case in point: an optimistic-to-the-point-of-idiotic Sunday Washington Post headline that triggered many eyerolls this weekend.
Media critic and NYU professor Jay Rosen pointed out the absurd front-page headline on Twitter:
Front page, Washington Post today. You can feel it coming. via @JAdeleGold washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
The Washington Post later changed this headline to something more neutral: “Amid turmoil, the rich asshole seeking a reset with State of the Union.” But the original headline had already been syndicated at local papers across the country, including the Salt Lake Tribune and the Florida Times-Union.
The Post editors may have taken a leaf out of Karl Rove’s book, of all people. Rove told Fox News on Sunday that, “This is a moment where [the rich asshole] can reset, but the reset depends upon him following through in the weeks and months ahead.”
You’d think liberal journalists would know better than to channel Karl Rove, but here we are. This is the same country that gives some rich asshole endless second chances at redemption, yet administers draconian punishments to first-time offenders for carrying a few grams of pot. It should go without saying that there is no hope that the rich asshole won’t continue to be a horrendous bully in 2018, but precedent holds that the mainstream media will parse his State of the Union address for evidence of an elusive pivot. As political scientist Norman Ornstein writes on Twitter:
Be on the lookout for this kind of coverage on cable news this week. Talking heads will be overly generous to the rich asshole. They’ll go on, gushing, about his seemingly presidential demeanor. But remember that this is not the real some rich asshole. We’ve already seen that person, and he’s hardly presidential.
‘You just brought her up twice!’ CNN’s Chris Cuomo nails Kellyanne Conway for insisting she won’t talk about Hillary
CNN's Chris Cuomo debates Kellyanne Conway (Screen cap).
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the rich asshole White House adviser Kellyanne Conway tried to insist that she is through talking about Hillary Clinton on CNN Tuesday — but CNN’s Chris Cuomo absolutely nailed her for continuing to bring up the president’s former Democratic rival.
During a debate on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Conway asked Cuomo why he thought it was important to keep talking about things that happened two years ago.
Cuomo pointed out that Russia is continuing to mount attacks on our democracy by pushing misinformation in an effort to help President some rich asshole. Conway then tried to accuse Cuomo of using Russian interference to make excuses for why Hillary Clinton lost the election.
“Do you think that’s why he won and why the person whose name I never mention on TV lost?” she asked, referring to Clinton.
“No I don’t,” Cuomo said.
Minutes later, as they were debating the president’s efforts to defeat ISIS in Afghanistan, Conway insisted that the president had the full support of his voters, whom she referred to as “the people who didn’t vote for the person who lost the election, whose name I never mention on TV.”
At this point, Cuomo couldn’t resist pointing out that Conway is still obsessed with Hillary Clinton, despite her promises to the contrary.
“You just brought her up twice!” he said.
Watch the video below.
The Memo: DOJ turmoil clouds the rich asshole's speech taking credit for Obama's actions
BY NIALL STANAGE -
Republicans are hoping that a raft of new controversies concerning President the rich asshole, the FBI and the Russia probe do not distract from Tuesday’s State of the Union address — an occasion that they had hoped would allow the president to highlight the nation’s economic strength.
It emerged on Monday that Andrew McCabe, the deputy director of the FBI who has previously incurred the rich asshole’s displeasure, would step down from his position.
That announcement was swiftly followed by the leak of an alleged phone conversation between the rich asshole and McCabe in which the president was said to have called McCabe’s wife a “loser.”
Monday also saw a vote by the House Intelligence Committee authorizing the public release of a memo written by the staff of Chairman Devin Nunes(R-Calif.). The memo is believed to make allegations of malfeasance against the Department of Justice and the FBI in the investigation of a rich asshole campaign official.
Democrats have countered that the Nunes memo cherry-picks facts. The Justice Department had expressed opposition to its release on national security grounds.
The Intelligence Committee also voted against allowing a Democratic memo, which rebuts the Nunes memo, from being made public.
Those moves outraged the opposition party, and moved liberal commentators to draw parallels with President Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” during the Watergate scandal.
Some Republicans have their own private misgivings about the accelerating chain of events.
One GOP strategist, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, referred to the push to release the Nunes memo as “utterly irresponsible.”
This person added that conservatives were in essence deciding “to release a memo that trashes the FBI, which the FBI has not even seen or had a chance to respond to. It looks like a hit job.”
(FBI Director Christopher Wray was finally shown the memo on Sunday. But Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday that Wray still had "concerns" after seeing the document.)
Beyond that, the broader hope among Republicans is that the president stays on-message during his State of the Union address and avoids veering off into overly partisan attacks or headline-grabbing defenses of his own conduct.
The importance of the event — State of the Union addresses often garner TV audiences of between 30 million and 40 million people — raises the stakes.
Doug Heye, a former communications director of the Republican National Committee, argued that matters pertaining to the FBI, the Justice Department and the Russia probe “could be a mild distraction, and certainly there could be bigger ramifications” down the road.
But, he added, “nothing overshadows the State of the Union. There is no annual event short of the Super Bowl that dominates coverage like a State of the Union.”
Republican confidence is buoyed by a stock market that continues to climb to new highs, low unemployment and a generally robust economy.
The extent to which the rich asshole deserves credit for those gains is the subject of intense debate — the same trends were evident during President Obama’s second term — but almost no one doubts that it delivers some political advantage to a commander in chief who has been mired in low approval ratings virtually since taking office.
“I think the tide is starting to turn because people are starting to see results,” said Brad Blakeman, who served on the senior staff of President George W. Bush’s White House. “How can you root against full employment and growth?”
Blakeman is among those who believe — and expect — that the president will ignore the controversial topics of Mueller, McCabe and Russia during his address.
“Because the president commands the podium, I don’t think you are going to see any of that,” he said. “All the noise that the left would like us to dwell on is not going to happen.”
It seems highly unlikely that the State of the Union can keep questions about the rich asshole’s conduct sidelined for long.
Some Democrats have floated the possibility of including measures to protect Mueller within the next must-pass government spending bill. There could be more damaging leaks following McCabe’s departure. And Democrats have slammed the Nunes memo repeatedly, with Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) calling it “misleading” and “worse than a nothing burger” in a Monday afternoon interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
The vote to release the GOP memo but not the Democratic version will renew questions about partisan abuses of power.
Republicans also worry about the prospect of the president getting in his own way — if not during the speech itself, then perhaps in a combative tweet or public remark that might soon follow it.
The Republican strategist who criticized the Nunes memo said wearily that he expected “the president to do what he always does. The speech will be fine and then he will send a couple of tweets that undo all the good he did.”
Still, more optimistic members of the president’s party referenced both his recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and his address to a joint session of Congress last February — a State of the Union in all but name — to suggest that the rich asshole can deliver a disciplined performance, even as other distractions cloud the horizon.
“The model for this speech ought to be the one a year ago,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres. “His 2017 ‘State of the Union’ was the best speech he’s given since he became president and received some of the most glowing reviews.
“If he can recreate the tone and approach of last year, he is likely to get similar reviews.”
The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage, primarily focused on some rich asshole’s presidency.
‘He allowed Putin to skate’: MSNBC panel warns ‘the rich asshole is doing the bidding’ of the Russian president
the rich asshole's relationship with Moscow has stalked the first year of his presidency, with key former aides under a US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin. (SPUTNIK/AFP / Mikhail KLIMENTYEV)
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An MSNBC panel on Tuesday morning noted that President Donald the rich asshole’s refusal to impose new sanctions on Russia raises more than a few warning signs.
“some rich asshole does the bidding for [Russian president] Vladimir Putin again,” host Joe Scarborough said, responding to the news. “some rich asshole tries to make Vladimir Putin’s life easier again.”
“What do you think about some rich asshole once again allowing Vladimir Putin to skate and not implementing sanctions that are so badly needed to send Russia a tough signal?” the host asked guest Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
The senator said that although he’s “glad” CIA Director Mike Pompeo issued a warning about Russian attempts to meddle in this year’s midterm elections yesterday, the president is sending mixed signals.
“The Russians are still deeply aligned with some rich asshole’s political future,” the senator said, noting that Russian bots as recently as this past week were promoting pro-the rich asshole hashtags.
Watch below, via MSNBC:
"You lie to the American people enough, at some point they figure out you're lying, and they completely tune you out. I would say we're facing that point right now."
The Russia investigation hangs over some rich asshole’s first State of the Union address, but that isn’t stopping Sarah Huckabee Sanders from pretending nothing’s wrong.
And “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough isn’t letting her get away with it.
The White House press secretary appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” Tuesday to hype the rich asshole’s address. Asked why the rich asshole keeps going after people who are conducting the Russia probe, Sanders said the investigation hasn’t “found anything yet,” and that Americans are “frustrated” by “Russia Fever.”
Minutes later, however, Joe Scarborough gave Sanders a point-by-point tutorial on what the Russia investigation has already yielded.
“I hate to break it to her,” Scarborough said. “I know she’s busy and maybe she hasn’t followed the news, she says there’s nothing there.”
Then he addressed Sander directly. “I know you’re busy and sometimes you can’t read all the news clips, we can’t hold you to that high of a standard to be able to read your entire Twitter feed.”
He began by describing disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, “who would be the closest person to the White House — he was arrested, he was charged, and he pled to a crime. And he is now cooperating with the independent counsel.”
Scarborough then talked about former the rich asshole campaign foreign policy adviser and current Mueller informant George Papadopoulos. “I don’t want to give her too many facts,” he said, but Papadopolous pleaded guilty “and he is cooperating with this investigation that you claim has proved nothing.”
Then, Scarborough reminded Sanders about indicted former the rich asshole campaign chairman Paul Manafort. “I don’t know if you missed that, Sarah Huckabee Sanders,” Scarborough said. “He, too, arrested, and I think he’s out on $10 million bail, so it couldn’t have been that bad. He’s going to jail for life, most likely.”
Scarborough threw in indicted former the rich asshole campaign and transition official Rick Gates for good measure.
“So, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, those are just four. Other indictments are coming, you know they are. So you want to be careful on what you say in front of the cameras.”
“It reminded me of Ken Burns’ documentary,” Scarborough said. “You lie to the American people enough, at some point they figure out you’re lying, and they completely tune you out. I would say we’re facing that point right now.”
The little three-letter word “yet” is doing a lot of work for the rich asshole and his minions, who rely on the fact that the rich asshole hasn’t been charged in order to claim the investigation has been fruitless. But Scarborough’s litany is just the thin edge of what we already know, and doesn’t include the clear public evidence of collusion, and even clearer repeated instances of obstruction of justice.
The clock is ticking for the rich asshole, and as it does, his desperation grows. But in the end, neither he nor Sanders can escape the truth.
5 things everyone should know about the rich asshole (actually Obama's) economy
Here is what is really going on.
President some rich asshole will give his first official State of the Union address Tuesday night.
And he will, no doubt, tout what he’s seen as one of his biggest accomplishments since he took office: the economy.
“The president is going to talk about how America’s back,” said White House legislative director Marc Short in a call to reporters previewing the president’s remarks.
During the rich asshole’s first maiden appearance at the World Economic Forum at Davos, the president laid out the country is strong economically, and it all has to do with his first year in office.
“After years stagnation the nights is once again experiencing strong economic growth. The stock market is smashing one record after another, and has added more than $7 trillion in new wealth since my election,” the rich asshole said. “Since my election we’ve created 2.4 million jobs and that number is going up very, very substantially […] The world is witnessing the resurgence of a strong and prosperous America.”
From corporate tax bill bonuses to black unemployment, here is what you need to know about the economy before the rich asshole gives his first State of the Union address.
Job growth was slower in 2017 than every year since 2010
During his presidential campaign, some rich asshole promised he’d be the “greatest jobs president God ever created.” In a tweet last week he claimed his administration’s massive corporate tax cut has created, and will continue to create, “jobs, jobs, jobs!” for Americans.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017 saw 2.06 million jobs created, making the most sluggish job growth in America since Obama’s first term, when the economy was pulling out of the Great Recession.
The anemic job numbers are also an indicator that the rich asshole is misguided in his belief that gutting regulations actually creates jobs.
Corporations are spending less than 1 percent of their tax cut on bonuses
The White House and President the rich asshole have made a big to-do out of the GOP tax bill starting a wave of corporate tax cut bonuses.
1 million Americans & counting receiving bonuses thanks to the @realDonaldSome rich asshole tax cuts & many millions more to earn bigger paychecks next month when the tax cuts kick in
Big banks and corporations like AT&T, Comcast, Wal-Mart, and Wells Fargo have announced their plans to deliver bonuses to non-executive employees in light of a massive tax cut courtesy of the GOP tax bill.
Under the new tax law, corporations will be taxed at a rate of 21 percent instead of 35 percent.
But there is more than meets the eye beyond the flashy headlines.
While the bonuses sound impressive, they’re table scraps compared to the total cost of the corporate tax cut. A ThinkProgress analysis of a report from the conservative Americans For Tax Reform group found the bonuses total roughly .1 percent of the trillion dollar corporate tax cut.
Some corporations, like AT&T and Boeing possibly have sinister motivations for giving out bonuses. Boeing relies on government contracts for much of its business, while AT&T is in pursuit of acquiring Time Warner, a merger which the Justice Department is suing to block. the rich asshole, who previously described the merger as “not good for the country,” received the AT&T news about bonuses before speaking at a White House even celebrating the legislative victory.
AT&T, however, is also in the process of laying off thousands of employees, according to the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union, which represents AT&T workers. CWA filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that some of those layoffs are needless, and that the timing of the terminations — just two weeks before Christmas — represents “an extraordinary act of corporate cruelty.”
Comcast similarly laid off 500 employees before Christmas as well, shortly after promising $1,000 bonuses to 100,000 employees.
GDP growth was lower in 2017 than two of the previous three years
In a speech in front of America’s mayors last week, the rich asshole predicted the final growth quarter would hit around 3 percent, and would only grow from there.
“You take a look at your GDP then and take a look at what’s happened now,” he started. “We’ll have three quarters in a row over 3. We had 3.2, and a lot of people thought it would take two or three years to get there. And we’re going to be hitting 4 soon, and then we’re going to be hitting 5s.”
The fourth quarter GDP growth numbers for 2017 were the final, definitive test as to whether the first year of the rich asshole presidency produced an economic boom — or “the rich asshole Boom” as Fox News and the conservative Daily Wire describe it. Coming in at just 2.3 percent, the result, while better than the previous year, is lower than two of the previous three years. The United States GDP was 2.6 in 2014, 2.9 percent in 2015, before dipping to 1.5 percent last year.
Black unemployment fell at a slower rate in 2017 than the previous four years
Whenever the rich asshole is questioned about he treats communities of color, he is quick to fall back on one statistic: the black unemployment rate.
Unemployment for Black Americans is the lowest ever recorded. Some rich asshole approval ratings with Black Americans has doubled. Thank you, and it will get even (much) better! @FoxNews
During a CNN interview Saturday Night, Van Jones asked musician Jay-Z if it was okay “to say terrible things but put money in our pockets.” Jay-Z replied no,”because it’s not about money at the end of the day. Money doesn’t equate to happiness. It doesn’t. That’s missing the whole point. You treat people like human beings. That’s the main point [..] It goes back to the whole thing — ‘treat me really bad and pay me well.’ It’s not going to lead to happiness, it’s going to lead to, again, the same thing. Everyone’s going to be sick.”
the rich asshole responded to Jay-Z via Twitter Sunday morning, again, citing black unemployment numbers.
But President the rich asshole had little to do with this statistic.
As Washington Post reporter Philip Bump noted recently, the rich asshole is taking credit for something he had no part in:
It’s not as if black unemployment was 18 percent under Barack Obama and, as soon as the rich asshole took office, it plummeted. Black unemployment fell fairly consistently from 2010 on, as did the rates for whites and Hispanics.From January to December 2017, the unemployment rate among black Americans fell 1 percentage point. During the same period in 2016, it fell the same amount. In 2015, it fell 1.9 points. The previous year, it fell 1.5 points. The year before that, it fell 1.8 points
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for whites is 3.7 percent, almost half the 6.8 percent for black Americans. If the rich asshole truly cared about the economic well-being of black Americans, he would notice the double-difference disparity is a “historic fixture of racial discrimination at play in our national economy,” as ThinkProgress’ Sam Fullwood put it.
The stock market is soaring but wages are stagnant
While the soaring stock market has captured the attention of the rich asshole’s Twitter feed, there is little conversation surrounding wages.
Despite the stock market numbers and low unemployment rate, average hourly earnings grew by only 0.4 percent in 2017, a step backward from 1.8 percent in 2015 and 0.8 percent in 2016.
And for rank-and-file workers the numbers are even more dismal. The average hourly wage of production and non-supervisory workers was $22.30, growing just 4 cents, or 0.17 percent from December of 2016.
Minimum wage workers, meanwhile, have continued to see the federal minimum wage remain at a paltry $7.25 — where it has remained since 2009.
Conway calls out powerful men accused of sexual misconduct by name — with two big exceptions
The White House weaponizes sexual assault accusations for partisan gain.
While making the cable news rounds on Friday morning ahead of President the rich asshole’s State of the Union speech, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called out men who have been accused of sexual misconduct by name on two occasions. But both times, she forgot to mention her boss, who has been accused of sexual assault by 14 women, and Steve Wynn, the former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee who is currently in the news for alleged serial sexual assault and harassment.
On Fox & Friends, Conway used sexual assault accusations as a political cudgel, saying Democrats “have yet to come to the table with anything except wearing black tonight, saying ‘me too’ because I guess because of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Clinton… and others.”
Conway used a similar line on CNN a short time later.
“‘Obstruct, resist, stop, don’t do it’ — that is not a message, that impedes Democracy,” she said. “Their biggest statement tonight is going to be the color of their clothing, they’re all going to wear black — what, to protest Harvey Weinstein? Or Bill Clinton?”
Republicans have tried to distance themselves from Wynn while refusing to return most of the millions of dollars they took from him. They’ve also attempted to avoid the topic of the accusations against the rich asshole. During a CNN appearance on Sunday. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) dismissed questions about the rich asshole reportedly paying hush money to an adult film actress, saying it “sounds like an issue that’s between the president and Mrs. the rich asshole, because it doesn’t seem to be a workplace issue as far as I know.”
Conway’s dismissive treatment of the issue of sexual harassment reflects the broader views of her party. Polling released in November showed that “[w]hile 79 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of independents say harassment is a serious problem — both rising over 20 points in the last six years — this number falls to 42 percent among Republicans, little changed over that same period.”
‘The state of our union is lawless’: Dem lawmaker claims Nunes didn’t even read classified info before writing memo
Rep. Devin Nunes speaks to a crowd at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Image via CSIS/Creative Commons.
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House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) hasn’t read the classified intelligence that his so-called “explosive” memo is based on, according to Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
During an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Swalwell called into question Nunes’ knowledge of the facts when crafting his memo that the GOP says should be released. He said that the Democratic memo is a 10-page analysis that he said they went into great detail to refute the GOP’s findings.
“They essentially have put out a book review on a book that Devin Nunes himself hasn’t read and they say the book the full of lies, that’s the position they’re going to put the American people in,” Swalwell told Joe Scarborough.
“The president addresses Congress tonight and the state of our union is lawless,” Swalwell said. “Lawless the president tries to remove Robert Mueller through tactics like this. Lawless as his aides in Congress seek to help him and lawless as you didn’t mention but he has failed to impose the sanctions against Russia that Congress passed.”
He called the Nunes memo “brainwashing” and explained that the Democrats tried to correct the record and introduce the facts to the American people, to no avail.
“We sought to correct the memo with a ten-page memo that went into painstaking detail point by point rebutting with classified information what the Republicans have alleged but also opened the door on mountains of new evidence that would I think bolster the FBI’s credibility and they voted unanimously to not allow the public to see that,” he continued.
Scarborough said that he found it remarkable the GOP would “cherry pick information put inside a memo that their members admit they don’t read before voting to make it public.” He went on to say that that President some rich asshole’s own Justice Department “says it would be extraordinarily reckless to do and then Democrats try to get the truth out and they won’t let you release your memo.”
Scarborough also explained “what Devin Nunes and his enabler Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) are doing are putting out a memo that only tells half the story and the other half of the story can only be told by classified information that can’t be released so the American people will never see the entirety of that story, because to do so would be to reveal classified information.”
Watch the full conversation below via MSNBC:
Paul Ryan kisses ass for the rich asshole’s hotel on Fox & Friends
He knows who is watching.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) went out of his way to give President the rich asshole’s hotel a shoutout during a tour of the Capitol he gave to hosts of the rich asshole’s favorite show, Fox & Friends.
While taking in a spectacular view of downtown D.C. with Ainsley Earhardt on Friday morning, Ryan commented on the rich asshole’s hotel, describing it as a key element in “the coolest view in town.”
“This is the coolest view in town, because we’re up here on Capitol Hill, and you basically can see everything from here,” Ryan said. “And see, the Washington Monument is the tallest thing, but see the second tallest structure here in Washington, that tower — you know what that is? That’s the rich asshole Hotel.”
Ryan said that when he brought the rich asshole to that same spot, he took notice of his hotel — a venture that made him about $2 million in profit over the first four months of 2017 alone.
“When I brought the president and the first lady out here to show that view, he said, ‘Hey, that’s my hotel!’ It was pretty cool,” Ryan said.
the rich asshole is the only modern president to refuse to divest from his business interests upon taking office. He leases the hotel building from the federal government — an unusual arrangement that “effectively gives the tenant control of the landlord,” as CNN puts it.
But there are multiple conflicts of interest created by the president running a lucrative business just blocks from the White House. Foreign governments can also curry favor with him by spending money there — a conflict the Founding Fathers tried to address with the Constitution’s emoluments clause.
Last week, ThinkProgress broke news about the Kuwaiti government’s plans to host its annual independence day celebration at the hotel next month. The Kuwaiti embassy abruptly moved the event from another hotel to the rich asshole’s last year shortly after the inauguration. The event is cited in an ongoing lawsuit against the rich asshole, which alleges that his business with foreign governments violates the constitution, by the Attorneys General of Maryland and D.C.
Comey praises McCabe: He 'stood tall' while 'small people' tried to tear down the FBI
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 01/29/18 08:50 PM EST
Former FBI Director James Comey gave his support to departing Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on Monday, saying McCabe “stood tall over the last 8 months, when small people were trying to tear down an institution we all depend on.”
“He served with distinction for two decades. I wish Andy well,” Comey tweeted.
Special Agent Andrew McCabe stood tall over the last 8 months, when small people were trying to tear down an institution we all depend on. He served with distinction for two decades. I wish Andy well. I also wish continued strength for the rest of the FBI. America needs you.
Comey’s message comes after it was reported that McCabe would be stepping down from his position amid pressure from Republicans and President the rich asshole.
the rich asshole had attacked McCabe on Twitter, accusing him of bias over his wife's bid for state office in Virginia. She ran as a Democrat and received nearly $500,000 in donations from a super PAC linked to Hillary Clinton and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).
the rich asshole has also repeatedly attacked the FBI in recent months amid the ongoing special counsel probe into Russian election interference, saying last year that the agency's reputation "is in Tatters — worst in History!"
The New York Times reported that FBI Director Christopher Wray pressured McCabe to step down over an upcoming inspector general report on McCabe and other top Justice Department officials’ actions during the 2016 presidential election.
Wray reportedly offered McCabe a job at a lower level of the agency, effectively demoting him, but McCabe chose to leave the bureau instead.
McCabe has been targeted by GOP lawmakers, who criticize the FBI over its handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, a probe that included McCabe.
The president also reportedly asked McCabe whom he voted for in 2016 during an Oval Office meeting last year, while McCabe was serving as the acting FBI director, and also told McCabe to ask his wife how it felt to be a loser after her failed campaign.
Comey was fired by the rich asshole last May, a move that eventually led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.
The announcement of McCabe stepping down came the same day that the House Intelligence Committee voted to release a GOP-crafted memo alleging "shocking" surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice.
Democrats say Republicans are attempting to undermine the Justice Department in order to weaken Mueller.
"What the rich asshole has now done ... I would consider to be a completely evil strategy, that is to go at the person above him, the people below him, and try and isolate Mueller."
As House Republicans close ranks to try and discredit the Justice Department’s attempts to investigate some rich asshole’s ties to Russia, the rich asshole himself has engaged in an aggressive smear campaign against senior FBI officials, and is now threatening Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
All of these moves smack of a desperate, and authoritarian, push to isolate special counsel Robert Mueller and replace the senior law enforcement officials who are either assisting or overseeing him. Rosenstein is charged with overseeing the Mueller investigation.
Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Ackerman, appearing on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes, had some harsh words for the rich asshole’s disturbing behavior.
“Having lived through Watergate,” Hayes asked him, “what do you make of what’s happening right now?”
“I think it’s just pure evil,” replied Ackerman. “You’ve got a President of the United States who recognizes he cannot politically fire Mueller. So what does he do? He goes after the people that are working on his investigation, the people that have put this investigation together for him in the first place. And then he goes after Rod Rosenstein, who is his supervisor.”
“What the rich asshole has now done has taken, what I would consider to be, a completely evil strategy, that is to go at the person above him, the people below him, and try and isolate Mueller,” Ackerman concluded. “That’s what he thinks is going to get him off the hook.”
Ackerman has warned of the rich asshole’s conduct throughout the investigation of Russia. In July, he said that the rich asshole’s behavior “cries out guilt” and the attempts to defame and discredit the probe and everyone involved in it are “all being orchestrated by the president.”
Ackerman was there, on the front lines, the last time a president even came close to abusing his power so grievously to get himself out of trouble. We should heed his warnings.
BY OLIVIA BEAVERS - 01/29/18 09:39 PM EST
The rich asshole administration told Congress on Monday that bipartisan legislation passed last year authorizing new sanctions on Russia is already "serving as a deterrent," and there's no need to actually implement the penalties at this time.
A spokesperson for the State Department said the mere possibility of facing sanctions through the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) has served as an effective countermeasure.
"Given the long timeframes generally associated with major defense deals, the results of this effort are only beginning to become apparent. From that perspective, if the law is working, sanctions on specific entities or individuals will not need to be imposed because the legislation is, in fact, serving as a deterrent," the spokesperson said.
The 2017 legislation allows President the rich asshole to postpone imposing sanctions on people or entities if he determines they are largely scaling back their transactions with Russia's defense or intelligence sectors, as long as he notifies the appropriate congressional committees at least every 180 days that they are seeing such progress.
The move is likely to be sharply criticized by Democrats and Russia hawks, who have called on the rich asshole to take a stronger hand in countering Moscow's election meddling, aggression in Ukraine and support of President Bashar Assad in Syria.
If the rich asshole didn't opt to delay, he would have to impose at least five sanctions on those that knowingly conduct significant transactions with Russia.
the rich asshole signed CAATSA into law in August despite his initial protest over the "flawed legislation," which overwhelmingly passed through Congress in response to Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The law also limits the rich asshole's ability to lift prior sanctions or return diplomatic compounds seized from Russia under the Obama administration.
The president, who sought to change CAATSA while it was being written, sharply criticized the law while signing it in August.
“By limiting the executive’s flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and North Korea much closer together,” the rich asshole said in a statement at the time.
The State spokesperson said Monday that some of the senior-most State Department officials and other U.S. authorities have privately and publicly dangled the threat of sanctions over both foreign governments and other entities for their dealings with listed Russian entities.
"Since the enactment of the CAATSA legislation, we estimate that foreign governments have abandoned planned or announced purchases of several billion dollars in Russian defense acquisitions," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
The legislation aims to deny Russia from reaping financial proceeds from its military and intelligence equipment sales by punishing those that make such purchases.
If sanctions are issued, they will "primarily be on non-Russian entities that are responsible for significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sector," the spokesperson said.
The move comes amid the ongoing special counsel probe into Russia's hacking efforts during the 2016 election, as well as possible ties between the rich asshole campaign and Moscow. the rich asshole has repeatedly dismissed the investigation as a "witch hunt" drummed up by Democrats to explain their surprise loss at the ballot box.
BY KATIE BO WILLIAMS - 01/29/18 06:22 PM EST
The House Intelligence Committee on Monday evening voted to make public a GOP-crafted memo alleging what some Republicans say are “shocking” surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
At the same time, the committee voted against making public a Democrat-drafted countermemo.
While the panel voted to release that memo to the entire House, Republicans expressed concern that publicly releasing the minority memo would damage sensitive intelligence sources and methods, according to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking member.
Both votes — to release the GOP memo and withhold the Democratic one — were along party lines.
The move ends weeks of speculation over whether the memo, which was drafted by staff for Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), would be made public. But it intensifies the dispute over what Democrats say is an all-out assault by Republicans to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Stone-faced committee Democrats appeared in a phalanx after the vote, decrying what Schiff described as the crossing of “a deeply regrettable line in this committee, where for the first time in the 10 years I’ve been on the committee, there was a vote to politicize the declassification process of intelligence.”
The document will not be immediately released — but could be at any time this week. Under the arcane House rule Republicans used to override the classification of the four-page memo, the document goes to President the rich asshole, who has up to five days to review and reject or approve its publication.
The White House has signaled support for the document’s release and is widely expected to defy the DOJ and make the memo public. The DOJ has opposed the release of the document, reportedly infuriating the rich asshole.
Some Republicans who have read the Nunes memo have hinted heavily that it contains information that could unravel the entire Mueller investigation, long described by the president as a “witch hunt.”
The precise contents of the memo remain unknown. However, it’s believed to contain allegations that the FBI did not adequately explain to a clandestine court that some of the information it used in a surveillance warrant application for the rich asshole adviser Carter Page came from opposition research partially funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, now known as the “Steele dossier.”
The document spotlights Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s role in approving the warrant application, according to The New York Times. Rosenstein appointed Mueller and has become a recent target on the right — as well as reportedly garnering the frustration of the president.
“We’ve taken the position that this is a serious issue that needs to be disclosed to the public,” Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) told reporters after the vote. The memo will not need to be redacted, he said, as the panel has no concerns that its release will damage national security.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications require multiple levels of authentication and require investigators to show probable cause that an individual is acting as an agent of a foreign power. To date, there has been no public evidence that DOJ officials abused the FISA process.
While Nunes has described the memo as “facts,” Democrats have slammed it as a collection of misleading talking points they are unable to correct without exposing the highly classified information underpinning the document.
It’s unclear how much input the DOJ will have prior to the publication of the memo. Typically, when sensitive documents are declassified, the agencies with equities in the intelligence weigh in to assess whether its release would damage national security.
Releasing the memo without allowing them to review it on those grounds, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote to Nunes, would be “extraordinarily reckless.”
Still, the committee initially stonewalled the DOJ from viewing the document because, as Conaway put it last week, “They’re the ones that have the problem.”
On Monday morning, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah hinted on CNN that the DOJ would also not have an opportunity to review the document during the White House prerelease review.
“The Department of Justice doesn’t have a role in this process,” he told CNN.
FBI Director Christopher Wray was reportedly allowed to view the document in the committee’s secure spaces over the weekend. A committee spokesperson declined to comment on Monday, as did the FBI.
Conaway did not rule out the possibility that the Intelligence Committee may vote at a later date to release the Democratic memo.
“The House hasn’t had a chance to look at the minority report, nor have we,” he said, adding that he would support a vote to release it. “That’ll come later, after the House has had a chance to look at it.”
It’s also unclear what will happen with the highly classified intelligence that underpins the memo, which came from documents provided to the committee by the DOJ as part of an agreement brokered by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The DOJ has said the memo’s release would break the terms of that deal, an assertion that spokesmen for both Ryan and Nunes reject.
That topic was not broached on Monday night, according to lawmakers.
Lawmakers say the underlying intelligence justifying the memo’s allegations is so sensitive that only eight members of Congress are able to view it. Nunes and Schiff are two of the eight figures, but the other members of the Intelligence Committee are not. The top two lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee are also part of the so-called Gang of Eight, but while they have access to the underlying intelligence, Nunes has denied committee requests to see the memo.
“Seeking Committee approval of public release would require [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] committee members to vote on a staff-drafted memorandum that purports to be based on classified source materials that neither you nor most of them have seen,” Boyd told Nunes.
Nunes has brushed aside the notion that the memo wouldn’t be persuasive without the underlying intelligence to substantiate its claims, calling the argument Democratic obstruction of his investigation into DOJ misconduct.
But a working group, including Nunes, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), met over the weekend to discuss the possibility of making some of the underlying information public. Nunes has “a plan,” committee member Conaway said last week but provided no further details.
Other Republicans suggested Monday that plan may be dead in the water. Asked prior to the meeting Monday if there was a plan to release any of the underlying intelligence, Gowdy replied, “Not that I know of.”
The memo is a committee work product and the responsibility for releasing it, or not releasing it, rests with Congress.
The underlying intelligence, however, belongs to the executive branch, and the rich asshole could unilaterally make it public if he wished.
House Republicans vote to release their memo, keep Democratic memo secret
"I think we have crossed a deeply regrettable line."
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted Monday to release a secret memo on the Justice Department probe into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election — while refusing to let the top-ranking Democrat release a competing report.
FBI Director Christopher Wray reportedly met with Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA), who prepared the memo, and asked him to wait to release it, but Nunes moved forward with the vote anyways.
Nunes claims his memo shows that the FBI and DOJ used tainted information to form a politically biased investigation into the rich asshole campaign. Specifically, the memo says Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein signed off on an application extending the surveillance on the rich asshole campaign associate Carter Page, the New York Times reported.
Republicans and Fox News pundits have been clamoring for the release of the memo, calling it “worse than Watergate.” Until now, Nunes has kept his memo close — refusing to share it with Senate Republicans or officials with the DOJ and FBI.
“I viewed the classified report from House Intel relating to the FBI, FISA abuses, the infamous Russian dossier, and so-called ‘Russian collusion.’ What I saw is absolutely shocking,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) said. “This report needs to be released — now. Americans deserve the truth. #ReleaseTheMemo.”
Contrary to what Republicans claim, the House Intelligence Committee’s top-ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff (CA), said that Nunes’ memo is completely biased, and cherry picks intelligence to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion. “[Republicans] seek to selectively and misleadingly characterize classified information in an effort to Protect the President at any cost,” Schiff said last Wednesday.
The DOJ also warned Nunes last week that releasing the memo without review by law enforcement would be “extraordinarily reckless”
JUST IN: DOJ's Stephen Boyd has sent a letter to @DevinNunes saying release of *the memo* without review by DOJ/FBI would be "extraordinarily reckless." Says the memo purports to be based on "classified source materials that neither you nor most of" the committee "have seen."
“This is an effort to circle the wagons around the White House and distract from the Russia probe,” Schiff said Monday after the vote to release the memo. “I think we have crossed a deeply regrettable line… There was a vote to politicize the declassification process of intelligence and potentially compromise sources and methods.”
This memo is part of the latest efforts of congressional Republicans and Fox News contributors to aggressively discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion. As ThinkProgress previously reported, by labeling Mueller’s investigation as “illegitimate,” “corrupt,” and full of “unaccountable bias” — the same claims in Nunes’ memo — conservatives are making it increasingly difficult for Mueller’s investigation to proceed unimpeded. This is only further emphasized by the abrupt resignation of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on Monday.
Nunes has used his role atop the House Intelligence Committee to run interference for the rich asshole. Last March, after a late-night excursion to the White House, he claimed that it was at least possible that President Obama had tapped the rich asshole’s phones, adding “I don’t know that the American people would be comfortable with what I’ve read.” The House Ethics Committee cleared Nunes of breaking the rules about public disclosure of classified information — but only because there was fierce disagreement as to what was and was not classified, according to The Atlantic.
The rich asshole administration announced on Monday that they would not be imposing new sanctions on Russia, defying mandatory bipartisan legislation.
The rich asshole administration on Monday blew by another deadline to impose mandatory sanctions against Russia, saying the bipartisan legislation — which was designed to punish Russia for its interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as its ongoing aggression towards Ukraine — is not needed at this time.
In a bizarre statement released late Monday, the State Department said legislation passed last year has been effective as a deterrent measure, negating the need to impose any additional sanctions as required by law.
“Today, we have informed Congress that this legislation and its implementation are deterring Russian defense sales,” said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, referring to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which the rich asshole begrudgingly signed into law in August 2017 after it passed with overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress.
“Sanctions on specific entities or individuals will not need to be imposed because the legislation is, in fact, serving as a deterrent,” Nauert said.
The 2017 sanctions bill, which the rich asshole referred to as “unconstitutional” and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said was unnecessary, required the Treasury Department to begin imposing sanctions against entities doing business with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors.
The State Department released an initial list of entities, including both U.S. and foreign firms, in October — missing the deadline by more than three weeks. Monday’s deadline called on the rich asshole administration to announce which of those entities would face sanctions for dealing with Russian intelligence and defense agencies, and to actually start enforcing the sanctions.
But even before the administration blew through the deadline, many were skeptical about whether the rich asshole would actually follow through with the sanctions, despite the fact that they are required by law. As Politico noted, “Implementing the law robustly would risk harming the relationship the rich asshole has tried to cultivate with Putin — and any delay would mean snubbing Congress’ authority.”
the rich asshole chose to snub Congress and give in to Putin, even as he faces an ongoing investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia. The move only added to existing suspicions about the rich asshole’s eagerness to be on friendly terms with a country that is openly hostile to America and to democracies around the world.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) called the rich asshole administration’s refusal to impose sanctions “unacceptable,” asking, “What does Putin have over the rich asshole?”
While the answer to that question remains to be seen, the message sent on Monday couldn’t be clearer: By refusing to punish Russia for attacking our democratic process, the rich asshole is inviting them to do it again — and reassuring Putin that as long as he is president, he’ll do everything he can to make sure Russia doesn’t have to face any consequences.
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